It's not uncommon for fans to have a soft spot for the first album they hear from a beloved artist. It might not be the band's defining work, but it was your entry point, your gateway. I'll always carry a torch for Alkaline Trio's fourth album, Good Mourning, and in this case, it's a significant album in the band's body of work and an important record in my personal history. Go to an Alkaline Trio show, and you'll see plenty of 20- and 30-somethings. I suspect that I'm not alone in holding on to this record as a high school touchstone.

Good Mourning is just a couple of months shy of its 10th anniversary, and looking back at the band's discography, it stands out as some of Alkaline Trio's best work. Don't get me wrong -- Goddamnit is the band's greatest album, but Good Mourning has a specific magic, featuring just the right balance of love and the macabre, and great production values to top it all off.

My recent vegetarian song list got me on a Propagandhi kick. I was amazed at how most of their songs still apply to what's going on today. With a presidential election just around the corner, politics remain a hot topic. Punk music helped sparked my interest in politics by pointing out injustices and questioning the status quo.

The story behind No Doubt's sixth album, Push and Shove is oddly familiar. The band put out a record a few years ago, toured, and then fell off the radar for a bit. It took No Doubt seven years to follow up Tragic Kingdom with Return of Saturn. The album wasn't quite as good as its predecessor, but it was a treat after all those years. Tracks like "Ex-Girlfriend" and "New" didn't stray too far from the band's signature sound, while songs like "Simple Kind of Life" and "Bathwater" broke new ground for a constantly evolving band.

The same can be said about Push and Shove. No Doubt is back after 11 years and has once again evolved. Various songs build off of the band's definitive sound, but as whole, Push and Shove finds No Doubt in new territory. This begs an important question-- can one band have two comeback albums in its career?See also: Gwen Stefani Rules (As a Rude Girl and/or Pop Princess)

I have a theory: The first album you listen to by one of your favorite musicians ends up being one of your favorite releases by said band, regardless of how it was received by critics or fans. Of course, this isn't always the case, but who hasn't ever had to answer to "You like that album, really?"

One such record is H2O's fourth full length album, Go. It's not the band's best work, but it's still a solid album. In honor of H2O headlining the first night of Within These Walls at Nile Theateron Friday, September 21, here's a look at why Go deserves a second listen.

"We wanted something more than what was on offer and we gave it our best shot. It didn't pan out, we went out and played it and people didn't like it. The record was a failure and we had spent ourselves on it," reads the band's statement about The Shape of Punk to come in a post called "Boredom is Not on the Table," "Then, like a free ball at the end of a pinball game, thousands of miles away from Umeå, it found itself an audience. We should have been forgotten by now, but we're not, and why that is is near impossible to figure out. We're grateful, either way."

Refused is far from forgotten, as a new generation of fans embrace the band's definitive sound.

Like scrunchies and Clarissa Explains It All, Alanis Morissette is an integral part of the '90s.

The Canadian singer/songwriter's enjoyed a solid eight-album career, but there's no denying that she peaked with 1995's seminal Jagged Little Pill. A more pop-minded Exile in Guyville or a grunge-lite update on Blood on the Tracks, it's a remarkable collection that's held up for 17 years, a Top 40 record packed with genuine human emotion.

If the rest of Reubens Accomplice's forthcoming Sons of Men sounds anything like "I'm Leaving," it's bound to be a great album.

In honor of the band's album release show at Crescent Ballroom tomorrow, I decided to give the band's 2001 release, I Blame the Scenery a few spins to see how it stands the test of more than a decade's time.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present The Wallflowers: The Only Band That Matters.

Just kidding, but the Clash vibes from the band's new tune, "Reboot the Mission," are clearly intentional. It's a tribute, featuring a Joe Strummer shoutout and vocal and guitar contributions from Mick Jones.

Most importantly, it's not half bad. It's the first single from the band's forthcoming record, Glad All Over, set for release on Tuesday, October 2.

Last week Chumbawamba, the nonsensically named band responsible for the ubiquitous nonsensically named hit "Tubthumping," announced it was calling it quits after 30 years. The news item drew reactions ranging from "Oh yeah, that 'I get knocked down' '90's band?" to "They were still around?" and also "God, that song blows." In the midst of their 15 minutes of fame, the word "anarchist" was always casually bandied about, but never in a serious way. I recall seeing an appearance the band made on Rosie O'Donnell's daytime talk show in which she introduced them as "the nicest bunch of anarchists I've ever met!"